Greenhouse: Cut Your Old-House Energy Bills

re: Greenhouse: Cut Your Old-House Energy Bills

RickyD — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 15:23:50 GMT

Great suggestions. Thanks.

re: Greenhouse: Cut Your Old-House Energy Bills

Mark Tyrol — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 01:19:09 GMT

How To Reduce Your Heating Bills This Winter / Energy Conservation Begins at Home

Imagine leaving a window open all winter long -- the heat loss, cold drafts and wasted energy! If your home has a folding attic stair, a whole house fan or AC Return, a fireplace or a clothes dryer, that may be just what is occurring in your home every day.

These often overlooked sources of heat loss and air leakage can cause heat to pour out and the cold outside air to rush in -- costing you higher heating bills.

Air leaks are the largest source of heating and cooling loss in the home. Air leaks occur through the small cracks around doors, windows, pipes, etc. Most homeowners are well aware of the benefits caulk and weatherstripping provide to minimize heat loss and cold drafts.

But what can you do about the four largest “holes” in your home -- the folding attic stair, the whole house fan or AC return, the fireplace, and the clothes dryer? Here are some tips and techniques that can easily, quickly and inexpensively seal and insulate these holes.

Attic Stairs

When attic stairs are installed, a large hole (approximately 10 square feet) is created in your ceiling. The ceiling and insulation that were there have to be removed, leaving only a thin, unsealed, sheet of plywood.

Your attic space is ventilated directly to the outdoors. In the winter, the attic space can be very cold, and in the summer it can be very hot. And what is separating your conditioned house from your unconditioned attic? That thin sheet of plywood.

Often a gap can be observed around the perimeter of the door. Try this yourself: at night, turn on the attic light and shut the attic stairway door -- do you see any light coming through? These are gaps add up to a large opening where your heated/cooled air leaks out 24 hours a day. This is like leaving a window open all year round.

An easy, low-cost solution to this problem is to add an attic stair cover. An attic stair cover provides an air seal, reducing the air leaks. Add the desired amount of insulation over the cover to restore the insulation removed from the ceiling.

Whole House Fans and AC Returns

Much like attic stairs above, when whole house fans are installed, a large hole (up to 16 square feet or larger) is created in your ceiling. The ceiling and insulation that were there have to be removed, leaving only leaky ceiling shutter between the house and the outdoors.

An easy, low-cost solution to this problem is to add a whole house fan cover. Installed from the attic side, the whole house fan cover is invisible. Cover the fan to reduce heating and air-conditioning loss, remove it when use of the fan is desired.

If attic access is inconvenient, or for AC returns, a ceiling shutter cover is another option for reducing heat loss through the ceiling shutter and AC return. Made from R-8, textured, thin, white flexible insulation, and installed from the house side over the ceiling shutter with Velcro, a whole house fan shutter cover is easily installed and removed.

Fireplaces

Sixty-five percent, or approximately 100 million homes, in North America are constructed with wood or gas burning fireplaces. Unfortunately there are negative side effects that the fireplace brings to a home especially during the winter home-heating season. Fireplaces are energy losers.

Researchers have studied this to determine the amount of heat loss through a fireplace, and the results are amazing. One research study showed that an open damper on an unused fireplace in a well-insulated house can raise overall heating-energy consumption by 30 percent.

A recent study showed that for many consumers, their heating bills may be more than $500 higher per winter due to the air leakage and wasted energy caused by fireplaces.

Why does a home with a fireplace have higher heating bills? Hot air rises. Your heated air leaks out any exit it can find, and when warm heated air is drawn out of your home, cold outside air is drawn in to make up for it. The fireplace is like a giant straw sucking the heated air from your house.

An easy, low-cost solution to this problem is to add a fireplace draftstopper. Available from Battic Door, a company known for their energy conservation products, a fireplace draftstopper is an inflatable pillow that seals the damper, eliminating any air leaks. The pillow is removed whenever the fireplace is used, then reinserted after.

Clothes Dryer Exhaust Ducts

In many homes, the room with the clothes dryer is the coldest room in the house. Your clothes dryer is connected to an exhaust duct that is open to the outdoors. In the winter, cold air leaks in through the duct, through your dryer and into your house.

Dryer vents use a sheet-metal flapper to try to reduce this air leakage. This is very primitive technology that does not provide a positive seal to stop the air leakage. Compounding the problem is that over time, lint clogs the flapper valve causing it to stay open.

An easy, low-cost solution to this problem is to add a dryer vent seal. This will reduce unwanted air infiltration, and keep out pests, bees and rodents as well. The vent will remain closed unless the dryer is in use. When the dryer is in use, a floating shuttle rises to allow warm air, lint and moisture to escape.

If your home has a folding attic stair, a whole house fan, an AC return, a fireplace, and/or a clothes dryer, you can easily, quickly and inexpensively seal and insulate these holes.

Mark D. Tyrol is a Professional Engineer specializing in cause and origin of construction defects. He developed several residential energy conservation products including an attic stair cover, an attic access door, and is the U.S. distributor of the fireplace draftstopper. To learn more visit www.batticdoor.com

re: Greenhouse: Cut Your Old-House Energy Bills

Kaz — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 20:46:50 GMT

First off, sorry about the double-post.

B-Mack - Yeah, I am having a tough time justifying the on-demand hot water, as well. I think once I have two teenagers (thankfully, double-digit years away still), it might become a necessity for more than just saving money!

re: Greenhouse: Cut Your Old-House Energy Bills

BrianMack — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 20:06:14 GMT

Kaz, I have wanted a demand hot water heater for a while now but I haven't been able to justify the high up front costs. The blanket on the hot water heater was <$30 and required less than an hour of my time. Definately worth the time and effort for my situation.

re: Greenhouse: Cut Your Old-House Energy Bills

Kaz — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 17:48:02 GMT

Switching to Hot Water On Demand might help even further.

If you like the look of your old windows, one suggestion for your old house would be to find a company in your area which will retrofit your old double-hung windows. We hired a company that did this because we loved the look of our old windows and hated the look of new windows. What they do is:

(1) take out your old windows

(2) replace just the glass with double-panel insulated glass

(3) if you have any kind of grilling on your window, the leave the inside wood, then match the shape of the wood and create a new outside grilling (because they need to cut the wood to get the old window out)

(4) remove the counterweight from inside the window frame and fill it with insulation.

(5) add vinyl runners on the side for the window to slide up and down in. This will also make your old window fold down for cleaning.

(6) as a bonus, it fixes any windows which don't quite line up right or stick. They'll also add new window locks.

They cost a little more than replacement windows, but, in Connecticut at least, it is considered a "repair" so there is no sales tax.

re: Greenhouse: Cut Your Old-House Energy Bills

Kaz — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 17:47:58 GMT

Switching to Hot Water On Demand might help even further.

(1) take out your old windows

(2) replace just the glass with double-panel insulated glass

(4) remove the counterweight from inside the window frame and fill it with insulation.

(5) add vinyl runners on the side for the window to slide up and down in. This will also make your old window fold down for cleaning.

(6) as a bonus, it fixes any windows which don't quite line up right or stick. They'll also add new window locks.

They cost a little more than replacement windows, but, in Connecticut at least, it is considered a "repair" so there is no sales tax.

re: Greenhouse: Cut Your Old-House Energy Bills

BrianMack — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 16:02:11 GMT

A recommendation that I have read to help with costs is to put a proper insulating blanket around you hot water heater. I tried this. I don't know that it saved much money but it did allow the hot water to "recharge" about 30% faster, so it was worth it. Of course Your Mileage May Vary.